‘Yes we can:’ Obama wins

November 7, 2008

By Cristina Sainati

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In one of the most historic elections ever, Northfield residents and college students got out and voted. The First United Church of Christ alone had 1217 voters throughout Tuesday. While some Carleton students voted absentee, Carleton and the CarlDems worked all day to make sure that students who wanted to vote in Minnesota knew where the polling booths were and were able to get to them. A school sponsored bus ran from Sayles-Hill to the polls from 10am-2pm and the CarlDems provided transportation from 8 a.m.-8:30 p.m. November 3rd, the CarlDems also hosted a Midnight Madness event where nearly 100 students chalked around campus and put up posters to remind people to vote.

On Tuesday night, Illinois senator Barack Obama was declared the winner of the presidential election against John McCain around 10:00 p.m. McCain took to the stage in Arizona not long after to concede defeat and pledge his support to President-elect Obama. Carls everywhere then gathered around TVs throughout campus to watch Obama’s acceptance speech in Chicago, surrouned by tens of thousands of cheering supporters.

In the elation of the evening, Carleton students then took to the streets and took advantage of the unusually warm weather to celebrate the Obama victory. In Sayles-Hill, cheers erupted when Obama was announced the winner on television. The mood everywhere was ecstatic and celebratory.